Many people dream of becoming famous Hollywood actors. It is possible to become a paid actor and even have people recognize your face on the big screen. What is the likelihood of that happening? How many years will it take before you can call yourself a star? These are just a few of the questions that budding actors would like to know.

Start Young

A recent study shows that actors are most likely to become famous when they are younger, particularly if they are under 30. The study went in depth to reveal that the amount of times a famous person was mentioned in books as they got older dropped tremendously. Actors in particular tend to become famous young, followed by writers in their 40s, and politicians in their 50s.

Competition

Roughly 70,000 people in the US work exclusively as actors. There are more than 300 million people in this country, and those who act full time or even part time are just a small slice of the working world. The likelihood of becoming famous in a field that has fewer than 100,000 workers may look appealing to aspiring actors. However, competition is intense in the acting field and just because there are fewer people in this field compared to others doesn't mean that it's easy to land a gig.

Pay

The latest research has revealed the average actor makes approximately $17.44 an hour. The lowest 10 percent of actors earned $8.58 an hour and the highest-earning 10 percent can make approximately $64.04 an hour. The numbers make it clear that not all actors bring home a multi-million dollar paycheck for signing on to be a part of a project.

Growth

The acting field is expected to grow in employment from 2010 to 2020 by 4 percent. This is a much slower growth rate than other industries and is largely due to the slow demand of performing arts work and the high demand of new films and not enough employment prospects for those films.

About the Author

Christina Caldwell is a contributor for online publications such as Women's eNews and Little Pink Book. Her work has also been featured in the popular U.K. magazine "Black Heritage Today." Caldwell holds a bachelor's degree in marketing and communications.